Bio Apps Reflection 2

Learning to read and reading to learn is a favorite educational quote of mine. This can easily be transformed into learning to write and writing to learn. Even though reading and writing are known to be subjects of their own, they are integrated within every subject and every act of communication we as humans complete. Most commonly reading and writing is through script or text of letter formations on paper however language can be read and communicated through symbols and sounds understood by others. This means that in no way can people communicate without any form of language. Even worse, how could anyone learn without languge? It's so necessary!
A cross-curricular way to integrate writing and science I found to like is and idea from Prain and Hand's "Writing for Learning in Secondary Science: Rethinking Practices." It supports the constructivist learning theory of student-centered instruction to have students "write 'translations' of their emerging understandings of science concepts in a variety of genres using their own words," (Prain and Hand). It serves as physical proof for conceptual understanding and is attractive to a wide-range of students by the diversity and freedom chosen by the student(s). As physical writing denotes communication of conceptual understanding, verbal confirmation through evaluating and negotiating claims involve language and are imperative. Communication is the transfer of knowledge that all humans must encounter.
*Important: Focuses on word-choice and selection are fundamental to a fully understanding student. Example: data versus evidence; Students must focus on the differences between to two in order not to confuse them or use them interchangably without caution. Data is gathered information from an experiment and evidence is the relative information gathered to back up an original inference or question. Evidence is always data, but data is not always evidence.